Friday, April 26, 2013

My side effects have balanced out, lessened. Tmorrow, I am due to decrease the Lupron from 20 to 5 unit injections daily and increase my estradiol patches from 1 to 2 every other day. Everything is going well. Transfer is scheduled for less that 1 month away!!!! Looking forward to it!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I used to not be so sensitive to side effects from medication, but I guess I am getting old. ;)
I am putting on the estradiol patches every other day. The night before I am scheduled to change the patch, I get a mild headache that usually lasts all night. After I change the patch, I feel better. CRazy! It make me wonder what menopause is going to be like!

Monday, April 15, 2013

I have been having minor headaches from the Lupron injection medication. The nurse, last week, said if the head aches started to be bothersome, I could start my patches a little early because it may offset the hormones and alleviate that side effect. Last night, I had a headache and woke up this morning with it, so I started the patches 2 doses earlier than the scheduled Friday start date. When I started the patches, I am to also take a baby aspirin to offset blood clotting risk and start taking a pre-natal vitamin. Pre-natal vitamins tend to make me nauseous and yep, I have dealt with queasy tummy all morning. After eating some lunch, it is better, but need to remember to take the pre-natal vitamin at bedtime so I am sleeping through the digestion of it. Other than that, things are great.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Lab results show my body is reacting to the medication as it should. The fertility nurse said I am close enough that I can cancel my appointment next week and then start the hormone patches next week as scheduled.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Today is day 6 of my menstrual cycle. I have been injecting Lupron for several days. I went and had bloodwork and an ultrasound to see if my uterine lining shed nicely and my ovaries are nice and quietly suppressed from the Lupron. I go next week and if everything checks out okay, I will be starting some hormone patches. In 5 weeks, I could be accepting 2 little blastocysts that I will grow into complete human beings! Amazing!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

I had my quarterly endocrinology (thyroid doctor) appointment today. My blood pressure was at 133/78. I was VERY happy to see it back to normal for me, especially that bottom number. My labs were all within normal range, so no changes were made. He did ask that I get blood work drawn a month after the transfer to make sure my levels are okay. If the transfer still happens in May, I will get bloodwork in June. If my dose needs adjusting, he will call me before my scheduled appointment, which is scheduled for late July, to make those adjustments. Lupron injections are going fine, no problems. Next thing to happen on the schedule is for me to begin my period, then have blood work and ultrasound day 3-6 of cycle.

My family

Welcome to my surrogacy blog!

Hi. My name is Carla. I am married to Brian. We have been married almost 10 years. We had 3 children in 2.5 years: Gareth (6-06), Zane (9-07), and Iris (1-09). Brian works as a web programmer. I used to be a social worker for people with developmental disabilities, but now stay home with our children.

In June 2009, we moved from a nice, cookie cutter subdivision to a humble, little, farm house, on 10 acres, in rural east central Illinois. We are interested in living a simpler life moving towards self sufficiency. We are interested in homesteading, gardening, beekeeping, and atheism/secular humanism/skepticism. I am a crafter of all sorts of creations - love to sew and quilt, and have many other interests, including weaving, pottery, painting, scrapbooking, among other things.

Our family feels complete - we are very done having babies for ourselves! My husband had a vasectomy to ensure that we would not be surprised with another baby.

I started thinking about becoming a gestational surrogate during my second pregnancy. The feelings I had did not fade, so here we are now. We were lucky enough to conceive quickly/naturally and have "easy" pregnancies. I have friends and have read about many people that have fertility issues and it does not come so easily for them. It saddens me that they can not fulfill their dreams. I was able to help a couple complete their family, delivering a baby girl, in December 2011. I am now on my second and final journey, helping 2 men from Argentina become daddies, with additional help from an egg donor.

Feel free to ask any questions. I tend to be an open book as long as there is genuine, sincere, respectful interest.